Chen Qi tilted her head and whispered to Su Che: "Prosecutor, why didn't the other party ask those officials? Could it be that Zhang San was the president of the court and restricted the power of Erbi?"
When you were the ear pen, you were simply arrogant in the court. You could ask anyone you wanted. Now that it is your turn to be the president of the court, the ear pen has become so low-key.
This is too much!
Su Zhe said: "Don't think too much about it. Zhang San has talked with me about this matter. Li Min just arrived here and didn't dare to make things difficult for the salt officials. In addition, the government did not ask anyone to file a lawsuit, so it was handed over to Li Min."
Zhang San came to ask."
Chen Qi nodded: "That's it."
Those who came from the capital felt that Li Min was too low-key, but in the eyes of Hezhong Prefecture officials, this ear pen was as good as heaven!
During the inquiry, there were various hints that the court was unfair.
Even Cai Yanqing couldn't help but be a little surprised, "It seems that in this court, there is no difference between Na Erbi and the prosecutor general."
Yuan Jiang stroked his beard and laughed and said: "In Kaifeng Mansion, there is no distinction between the two in the court. They are just their own masters. The procuratorate mostly represents the court and acts as the prosecution, and Erbi represents the defense."
Cai Yanqing nodded: "I see."
In my heart, I thought, it turned out that he knew about it, but he didn't ask Erbi to litigate for the government. It seemed that he was taking the opportunity to rectify the salt administration. This calculation was really shrewd!
Yuan Jiang glanced at Cai Yanqing secretly and thought, he was not testing me. That's all, let him think about it. Anyway, I have asked their opinions, but they don't believe in ear pens, so I can't blame them.
While whispering, He Chunlin had already arrived in court. This was the second time he appeared in court. He was far less nervous than the first time. Moreover, compared to the private person, this person really had little to do with him. He just
An executor and supervisor, not a decision-maker.
"I'm really sorry for bothering Mr. He Yanjian to go to court to testify despite his busy schedule."
Zhang Fei said very guiltily.
He Chunlin also smiled slightly and said, "President Zhang is so polite. It is within my duty to assist the judiciary."
"He Yanjian understands justice well and is admirable."
Zhang Fei smiled and nodded, and when he was about to ask, He Chunlin suddenly said: "I have something to say, I don't know whether I should say it or not?"
Hey, you're young! You've learned to answer quickly. Zhang Fei was stunned and said expectantly: "If it has something to do with this, I'll just say it's okay."
He Chunlin immediately said: "Those salt merchants just now are all lying. They are all rich, how can they borrow money to survive? President Zhang must not believe them, and they should be punished for their crimes."
The salt merchants sitting below suddenly felt shocked and looked at Li Min one after another. Li Min gave them a calm look.
Don't panic.
It's all under control.
"Thank you very much, Supervisor He Yan, for telling me."
Zhang Fei smiled and nodded, "Our Imperial Court mainly looks at the evidence, not what they say will be accepted by our Imperial Court."
He Chunlin said: "They are talking lies with open eyes in the imperial court. President Zhang should punish them for their crimes. This kind of behavior must not be tolerated."
The four little kings sitting below all thought that you told a lot of lies last time the court was held!
Zhang Fei explained patiently: "That's it. If the imperial court convicts a witness because of his untrue statement, no one will be willing to come to court to testify. After all, the issue of ear pens is not that good."
answer.
As long as it is not the kind of lies and perjury that are similar to frame-up and the circumstances are very egregious, our Imperial Court will generally not argue with the witnesses, and our Imperial Court will also distinguish the truth from the false based on the evidence."
The common people nodded frequently when they heard this.
His favorable impression of the imperial court continues to rise, while his fear of it decreases sharply.
I heard Zhang Fei continue to say: "In addition, as for the issue raised by He Salt Supervisor, in fact, it does not have a great impact on this matter. Our main concern is whether the value stipulated in the salt banknote and the value at this time have happened.
Change. After all, our imperial court pursues fairness and justice and handles affairs in accordance with the law, rather than robbing the rich and giving to the poor. We cannot treat the other party differently just because he is a wealthy businessman. He Salt Supervisor thinks I am right?"
He Chunlin nodded slightly, "President Zhang's words make sense."
But the tone was obviously dissatisfied. This was the first time I had seen such gentle justice!
Zhang Fei smiled slightly, then looked down at the papers on the table carefully, and raised his head and asked: "According to our investigation, during the period when the value of the salt banknotes alleged by the plaintiff changed, He Salt Supervisor happened to be in charge here.
It’s something, I wonder if it is?”
He Chunlin nodded.
Zhang Fei suddenly handed a salt note to Li Si.
Li Si immediately sent the salt banknotes to He Chunlin.
Zhang Fei asked: "He Yanjian should have heard the other party's inquiry just now. What the president wants to know now is how much salt can the salt banknotes in He Yanjian's hands be exchanged for from the salt pond?"
He Chunlin glanced at the salt banknotes and said with a slight embarrassment: "About one hundred and twenty kilograms."
Although I have little to do with him, it is still a bit uncomfortable to answer this kind of question.
Zhang Fei asked again: "I wonder what the amount is set by the government?"
He Chunlin said: "Two hundred catties."
"That is to say, according to government regulations, the salt banknotes in your hand should be exchangeable for two hundred kilograms of salt."
"Yes, it is."
"Is this always the case? Has the government issued a notice to re-stipulate the amount of salt that can be exchanged for these salt banknotes?"
"No!"
He Chunlin shook his head.
Zhang Fei asked: "Excuse me, Salt Supervisor He, how should the president of this court understand this question? Since the court has not changed the amount of salt that can be exchanged for salt banknotes, why can it be that salt banknotes originally worth two hundred catties can only be exchanged for one hundred and twenty pounds?"
catty."
He Chunlin said: "We also act according to the instructions from above."
Zhang Fei said: "What does the above order mean?"
He Chunlin said: "It was the previous envoy of Yanjie, who is also the current envoy of Xue Fayun."
Zhang Fei said: "But I just asked He Yanjian whether the imperial court had issued an official document. He Yanjian said no. Now He Yanjian also said that this was the order of Xue Fayun. Can the president of the court understand that this is Xue Fayun's order?
Shipping makes personal orders.”
He Chunlin nodded.
Zhang Fei asked: "Does the salt envoy have this power?"
He Chunlin shook his head and said, "I don't know much about that either."
Zhang Fei pondered for a while and then asked: "Did you do it this way before?"
He Chunlin said: "This method originated from the Jiayou period, and was created by Fan Xiang, the governor of Hezhong Prefecture at that time. Since then, the number of salt banknotes issued every year has been maintained at about 1.66 million salt banknotes. This is
Later, after the arrival of Xue Fayun, the annual salt banknotes issued began to exceed this amount."
In fact, he had worked under Xue Xiang for many years, and he had gained a good friendship, but he did not dare to hide this matter for Xue Xiang, because there were also supervisory censors sitting nearby, and these officials were looking for excuses for Xue Xiang everywhere.
Zhang Fei said: "So the change in the face value of salt banknotes is caused by the over-issuance of salt banknotes."
He Chunlin nodded.
Zhang Fei asked: "I wonder why you broke the rules set by Fan Tixing?"
He Chunlin immediately said: "This is actually related to those businessmen."
He also came prepared this time.
Zhang Fei asked: "How do you say this?"
He Chunlin said: "In the beginning, businessmen usually exchanged money for salt banknotes in Bianzhou, and then went to the salt pools in Jiezhou to exchange for salt, and then sold it to various places. But later, some businessmen liked to hoard salt banknotes and wait for the price.
sell.
The salt banknotes were not exchanged for salt, which caused the salt in the salt pond to accumulate more and more. When Xue Fayun arrived, he quickly discovered this phenomenon, so he began to issue more salt banknotes and sell off the salt stored in the salt pond.
Later, Xue Fayun combined the salt policy with the horse policy, using salt profits to buy horses and renting the previous pastures to landless farmers. At the same time, he exempted thousands of people from the labor involved in raising horses, making salt, etc., and for
The imperial court saved more than 100,000 yuan in horse-raising expenses, but the land rental part was included in the local government, because the Hezhong Prefecture's finances were also very short of money at that time."
Hearing this, the people all looked moved.
It turns out that the salt dealer has been wronged and allowed us to make a profit, so... that is a good thing after all.
But...but don't change it back!
Thinking of this, I felt uneasy again.
For a moment, I didn’t know who to support.
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "Supervisor He Yan, please continue."
He Chunlin said: "After the inventory in Yanchi was depleted and the cost of buying horses began to be borne, the over-issuance of salt banknotes did not decrease. On the contrary, due to the war in the northwest at that time, the issuance of salt banknotes continued to increase.
As a result, three years ago, the salt pond was unable to be exchanged for salt. Many banknote dealers sold salt banknotes at low prices. The lowest price at that time was two taels of five hundred yuan. Therefore, Ambassador Xue Fayun told us that one salt banknote can only be exchanged for one salt banknote.
About one hundred and twenty pounds."
Su Che frowned when he heard this, and whispered to Chen Qi: "Just now, Chaobei said that if the salt banknotes can only be exchanged for one hundred and twenty kilograms of salt, he will lose everything."
Chen Qi said: "That won't mean losing everything."
Su Zhe said: "Have you not heard yet? Some salt merchants are willing to sell it at a low price, but some salt merchants are not willing."
Chen Qi frowned and said: "What the prosecutor general means is that the cost for someone to obtain salt banknotes is very low."
Su Zhe nodded and said: "That's right. Although the imperial court has a very complete issuance system, it is not perfect. After all, the salt banknote is just a piece of paper. It is much simpler than obtaining two hundred kilograms of salt. There must be someone
We can easily get salt banknotes, so we have to keep an eye on this matter in the future."
Chen Qi said: "We still need to send people to Bianzhou to investigate."
Su Zhe said: "As long as it is within the scope of Shaanxi Road, our procuratorate has procuratorial power."
He then heard Zhang Fei ask: "Since Ambassador Xue Fayun told you that one salt banknote can only be exchanged for about 120 kilograms of salt, then why didn't he directly issue a decree and announce it to the people?"
"This...I don't know much about this either." He Chunlin shook his head.
The government also wants to save face. If it were stipulated directly, this would obviously not be justified. The best way is to print and issue small banknotes to replace the old banknotes, and then devalue the banknotes.
At that time, Xue Xiang originally planned to directly stipulate that only small banknotes should be recognized, but due to some resistance, and the salt merchants were also making trouble, the government temporarily needed merchants to sell salt, so Xue Xiang gave them some time to change.
Many officials present sneered. They were all conservatives and did not support Xue Xiang's method of play.
This is clearly a matter of robbing money and competing with the people for profit.
But for those who really know how to manage money, once a banknote dealer appears outside, they can actually issue more money, but they must avoid causing panic. It would be terrible if a run occurs.
Xue Xiang had no choice. The court was forcing him to take the money, and a group of officials below him were dissatisfied with him. They let him out privately and attacked from above and below, so he could only drag him away.
Later, as soon as he was transferred, there was an immediate thunderstorm, and the problem of salt money got bigger and bigger.
Historically, Emperor Shenzong still spent money to protect this salt law, but that was also because Wang Anshi's reform made the treasury full.
Zhang Fei didn't ask further. This was normal in the past. He glanced at the paper and asked, "I wonder how many salt banknotes the government issues every year now?"
He Chunlin hesitated and said nothing.
Zhang Fei asked: "Isn't this public?"
He Chunlin shook his head.
Zhang Fei said: "So no one except the government knows how many salt banknotes were printed and issued?"
He Chunlin nodded.
This issuance amount is only reported and not disclosed to the public.
The court was still able to find out the specific accounts.
But most salt merchants don't know it, and the people are even more ignorant.
Zhang Fei lowered his head again and said, "According to our imperial court's investigation, the government issued salt banknotes worth 2.3 million guan last year. I wonder if that's true?"
He Chunlin nodded.
Zhang Fei asked again: "Who decides the current quantity of salt banknotes to be issued?"
He Chunlin thought for a while and said: "Originally it was based on the output of the salt pond, but now it should be based on the demand for military expenditures in the northwest."
In fact, there is no regulation at present, that is, to dissolve salt and make it up to oneself, but this thing is addictive and will only continue to increase, not decrease, because it is difficult for people who spend money to change from extravagant to frugal.
Of course, He Chunlin diverted military expenditures and brought in the military.
If you are awarded compensation, military expenditures will be reduced.
"last question."
Zhang Fei asked: "Does the government currently have the ability to exchange those salt banknotes in the prescribed amount?"
He Chunlin didn't even think about it, he shook his head and said: "No!"
Zhang Fei asked with a smile: "Why did He Salt Supervisor answer so confidently? Could it be that he knows how many salt banknotes are out there?"
He Chunlin said hurriedly: "I don't know the details, but I estimate that there are at least millions of salt banknotes outside. The key point is that the finances of Hezhong Mansion are relatively tight at the moment. They are also responsible for military expenditures and horse administration. Last year, they even reported to the court.
I report this situation and hope that the imperial court will provide some subsidies, so I will definitely not be able to spend any extra money."
"I see!"
Zhang Fei smiled and nodded, then looked up, "Do the plaintiff and the prosecutor's office have any questions to ask?"
Li Min shook his head directly.
The other party didn't make any excuses, it was clear that he was lying.
Su Che stood up and said: "Our procuratorate needs He Yanjian to provide relevant evidence to prove what he just said."
"This is what it should be." Zhang Fei nodded and said to He Chunlin: "Because this is related to the interests of the imperial court, the procuratorate must examine relevant evidence to avoid damaging the interests of the imperial court. Then I will trouble the He Yanjian to provide relevant evidence to the procuratorate.
evidence."
He Chunlin nodded, thinking to himself that the Procuratorate seemed to be more troublesome than the Imperial Court.